Coal mining machine



AWN 39, 1945- R. .JOHNSON 2399,43

Filed Jan, 5, 1945 2 shets-sheet 1 n www .Roerfoiznoz April 30, 1.946. RJOHNSON 2,399,438

COAL MINING MACHINE Patented Apr. 30, 1946 UNITED STATES YPATENT OFFICECOAL MINING MACHINE Robert Johnson, Lafayette, Colo., assignox` ofonefourth to Robert M. Johnson, Cheyenne, Wyo.

Application January 5, 1945, Serial No. 571,519

(o1. l26a-42) 9 Claims.

This invention relates generally to mining machines and, moreparticularly, to improvements in machines operating under fluid pressurefor breaking down sections of a coal seam.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide a machine orapparatus .of the character stated made up of a plurality ofhydraulically operated pressure or power units operatively coupledtogether and constructed in a novel manner whereby the applied pressureagainst opposing faces of the cut in which the apparatus is located willprogress from one power unit to the next so that the section to bebroken out will be broken in pieces instead of as a solid block.

Another object of the invention .is to provide a pressure applyingapparatus of the character stated made up of the series of operativelyconnected hydraulic pressure units, wherein each unit is provided with auid'pressure shut-off valve between the supply port for the unit and amovable feet or ram whereby when such foot or ram has been extended toits extreme position such valve will be closed and the pressurefwill beautomatically taken off of the foot and passed on to the next unit.

Still another object oi.' the invention is to provide a coal breakingapparatus of the character stated in which the ram feet are connectedwith the body of the ram by heavy rubber strands which effect the returnof the feet to starting position when the fluid pressure is relaxed. 4 yY Still another object of the invention is to provide in a coal breakingapparatus of the character stated, a plurality of operatively connected,hydraulically actuated power units or rams wherein the rams are ofprogressively increasing internal size so that they will be actuatedprogressively to break out the seam block or section of coal, in piecesrather than in a solid block.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent asthe description of the same proceeds and the invention will be bestunderstood from a consideration of the following detailed descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of thespecication, it being understood, however, that the invention is notconned to a strict conformity with the showing of the drawings but maybe changed or modified so longA as such changes or modifications mark nomaterial departure -from the salient features of the invention asexpressed in the appended claims. .f

In the drawings: Y

Figure 1 is a sectional view through a portion of a coal seam showingthe application of the present invention in breaking away a section ofsuch seam.

Figure 2 is a view in side elevation, with parts broken away, of one ofthe pressure or power units.

Figure 3 is a view partly in vertical section and partly in frontelevation of one of the units showing, in longitudinal section, the endsof two coupling links connected therewith.

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line -t-- of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a detail sectional view, on an enlarged scale of a portionof the valve mechanism.

Referring now more particularlyto the draw.. ings, the numeral I0designates an -undercut such as is commonly formed in a coal seam to setoff a block or section of coal, designated Il, which is broken away fromthe main body of the seam, to be hauled out. Such undercuts are usuallyextended for a distance of from ve and a half to nine feet and areapproximately six inches high.

The machine of the present invention is made up of a series ofoperatively coupled pressure applying or ram devices, each of which isgenerally designated R and the number of such devices making up thecompleted machine will vary according tothe depth of the undercut. Anundercut of a depth of seven feet is most commonly used and for such adepth a machine made up of lthree of the ram units would be employed.For a greater depth such, for example, as a nine foot out, the machinewould be made up of four of such units.

The several rams making up the complete machine are of identicalconstruction, the single exception being that the fluid pressurechambers within the rams will be of different sizes and the units willbe assembled so that the unit nearest the outer part of the undercut ornearest the pressure machine supplying uid to the units, will be ofmaximum interior size and the succeeding ones will be progressivelysmaller so that the outer unit will operate ahead of the inner unit andWill develop more power than the succeeding unit and such units willfunction progressively inwardly according to the sizes of the iiuidpressure chambers thereof. It will thus be seen that with this setup thegreatest pressure or power will be applied to the coal body Il near theouter side ,of the undercut and such body will be broken off in stagesbythe different units as the power passes from one to the other.

l Since the construction of the several ,units is of which is formed toprovide an interiorlyf threaded recess I6 which communicates at itsinner end with the chamber |1 and which chamber in turn is incommunication with the lbore I8 which extends outwardly vinto the headof the ram unit and joins the longitudinal iiuid conducting passage I9which at each of its ends is threaded as indicated at 20, to facilitatethe connection therewith of an end of a iluid conducting hose 2|.

Telescopically nested upon the piston |5 are the piston sleeves 22 and23. The sleeve 22 is immediately adjacent to the piston I5 while thesleeve 23 is upon the outer side of the sleeve 22 as shown.

The sleeve 22 is of an inside diameter through the major part thereof,greater than the diameter of the piston I5 and adjacent to the inner endof this sleeve there is formed the annular shoulder 24 which is of adiameter to closely encircle the piston thereby dividing the spacebetween the wall of the piston and the inside wall of the sleeve into apacking gland chamber 25 and an extent of movement determining space 28.

At its outer end the inner piston sleeve 22 is formed to provide theencircling outwardly extending stop flange 21.

The outer piston sleeve 23 is formed somewhat similarly to the sleeve 22in that it is provided with the interior annular shoulder 28 whichdivides the inside of the cylinder into the packing gland chamber 29 andthe extent of movement determining space 30.

Upon its outer end, however, the sleeve 23, instead of having anencircling flange, is of slightly reduced diameter and is threaded asindicated at 30, for the threaded application thereto of the foot member3| which closes the outer end of the outer sleeve 23 as shown.

The interior of each sleeve at its inner end is threaded as indicated at32, to receive a packing gland ring nut 33 which maintains in positionagainst the adjacent shoulder, the packing material 34. Such materialfor the inner sleeve is compressed into the wall of the piston I5 whilethe material for the outer sleeve is pressed against the outer sidesurface of the inner sleeve 22 thus preventing fluid leakage between themoving parts.

As shown the inward telescoping movement of the sleeves is limited bythe abutment of the inner ends of the sleeves against the underside ofthe head I2 and the outward movement of the outer sleeve 23, togetherwith the foot 3|, is limited by the engagement of the shoulder 28against'the stop flange 21 which is carried at the outer end of theinner sleeve.

The outward movement of the inner sleeve 22 upon the piston body I5 islimited by the engagement of the shoulder 24 against the rim 35 of avalve retaining plug 36 which is threaded into the recess I6.

The plug 36 is centrally chambered as indicated at 31 and thischamberleads outwardly through the head of the plug by way of thepassage 38 into the fluid chamber 39 which is formed between the domedinside wall of the foot 3| and the flat head of the plug and theadjacent end of the inside sleeve 22 and flange 21.

Seated within the plug chamber 31 is an expansion spring 48 andextending through this spring is the stem portion 4| of a plug valve 42,the rounded underside 43 of which is designed to contact the annularseat 44 formed around the -inner end of the plug chamber 31, when thevalve is shifted outwardly against the resisting tension of the spring4G. As shown this spring maintains the valve unseated so that iiuidpassing through the passage i8 will flow around the valve stern throughthe chamber 31 and the passage 38 into the fluid chamber 38.

The outer end of the valve stem 4| has connected therewith one end of achain 45 while the opposite end of such chain is attached, as indicatedat 4E, to the foot 3|. This chain is of the proper length to permit thenearly full extension of the sleeves outwardly on the piston and justprior to the completion of such full outward movement of the sleeves thevalve 42 will be pulled rmly onto the seat 44 so as to shut ofi thefurther flow of fluid through the passage After the chamber 31 andpassage 38 have been closed by the valve 42 the full pressure of theiluid will be carried over to the next ram unit while the unit in whichthevalve has been closed will be maintained in extended or expandedcondition until the iiuid pressure has been relaxed.

The foot portion 3| o1 each unit has the opposite radial extensions 41each of which carries a pair of spaced upstanding ears 48 which areprovided with the outwardly opening slots or notches 49. Each of pair ofears 48 is disposed beneath a pair of ears I4.

Extending across between and connecting each pair of ears I4 is a, pin5I] and a corresponding pinV 5| connects each pair of ears 48 by havingits ends engaged in the notches 49 as illustrated. The pins 5I arepreferably headed as shown so as to prevent them from moving axially andslipping out of the notches'49.

Each adjacent pair of pins 50 and 5I passes through and are coupledtogether by the heavy elastic band 52, th'e Width of which issubstantially equal to the distance between the ears oi each pair. Thesebands, located upon opposite sides of the unit, tend constantly to pullthe foot member 3| inwardly so as to shift the piston sleeves intonested relation upon the piston. When the fluid is introduced into theunit and the piston sleeves and the foot are moved 'outwardly the bandsare placed under tension and by reacting, after the uid pressure isrelaxed, they pull the sleeves back to starting position as described.

The units of the machine are connected in a continuous iluid conduit bymeans of the pipe o1' tube sections 2| which are flexible but are ofsuiiicient strength to withstand high iiuid pressure. In addition tothese pipe sections or tubes 2|, the units are connected by the rigidlinks or link bars 53. These links are hollow and are of substantiallyU-shaped cross section. Each' end of each link bar is disposed between apair of ears I4 and pivot pins or screws 54 arev extended through thesides of the links and into the adjacent ears I4 sothat the link barwill be coupled with the unit.

As illustratedthe open ksides of the link bars are directed downwardly.By this means ample protection is-given to the tubes 2I which' extendlengthwise of the linksV within the same, while at the same timethetubes and the links may be easily and quicklyseparated or a link maybe taken out from between two units, without causing any difficulty inseparating the link from the tube which' it shields.

The pivot pins 54 extend perpendicular to the axis of the piston and thepiston sleeves. Thus it will be seen that as the body of coal is brokenaway by the units which are expanded successively, the unit lyingbeneath the portion of the coal body which has been broken out, may dropor swing downwardly without danger of damaging the connectionbetweenitself and the iiext unit, or damaging the hose which carries thefluid under pressure from one unit to the other.

From the foregoing it will be seen that there is provided in the machineherein described, a novel arrangement whereby the coal body may bebroken down in portions or sections, by the several pressure applyingunits or rams due primarily to the connection together of rams ofsuccessively decreasing sizes or power. It will also be apparent that byreason of the novel interior construction of each ram, as soon as theram foot has been moved outwardly to the maximum from the head, theapplication of further power to the foot is shut off so that the fullforce of the fluid can be carried over to the next ram. In this mannerth'e application of the power to the rams is progressive to furtherinsure the breaking down of the coal body in sections as described.

While in the illustration of the present invention and the descriptionthereof the use of the invention has been conlined to coal breaking, itis to be understood that the device may be used for other breakingoperations and that there is no intention of limiting the invention tothe coal mining art.

I claim:

l. A mining machine of the character stated, comprising a plurality offluid actuated ram units, means connecting said units together inarticulated relation, means for conducting fluid under pressure from oneunit to the other, and means for successively shutting off the supply ofoperating uid to the units as the units are each operated to apredetermined extent.

2. A mining machine, comprising a series of uid actuated ram unitsarranged in spaced relation to form a line, rigid coupling link barsinterposed between the units and pivotally attached at their ends to theunits for pivotal movement relative to the units on axes extendingperpendicular t the direction of thrust of the units. means forconducting uid under pressure from one unit to the other, and means forautomatically shutting off the application of fluid pressuresuccessively to the units through the series from one end to the other.Y

3. In a mining machine of the character stated, a fluid pressureoperated ram, comprising a piston body having a head, a foot member,telescoping piston sleeves slidably supported upon said piston, saidfoot being coupled with the outer one of the telescoping sleeves, saidfoot having a wall in opposed relation to and spaced from the end of thepiston and of a sleeve to form a pressure chamber, means for introducingfluid through the piston into the pressure chamber to efect axialextension of the sleeves upon the piston` said foot and head memberseach carrying two pair of oppositely positioned ears, the ears oi onemember being in cooperative relation with the ears ofthe adjacentmember, pin members connecting together 'the ears of each pair, andiiexibl(l bands connecting the pins of the ears of the head member withthe pins of the adjacent'ears of the foot member and constantly urgingmovement of the sleeves together on the piston.

4. A mining machine ram unit of the character set forth in claim 3, withmeans for effecting the interruption of the ow of the uid to said fluidchamber when the foot member has moved outwardly to a predeterminedextent away from the head member.

5. A mining machine ram unit of the character stated in claim 3, withmeans for effecting the shutting oi of the flow of fluid to said fluidchamber, and means operated bythe foot member upon movement of suchmember outwardly to a predetermined position with respect to the headmember for moving said shutting ofi means to operative position.

6. In a mining machine of the character stated, a iiuid actuated ramunit comprising a head member, a piston body integral with said headmember, a pair of telescopically assembled sleeves, the inner one of thesleeves being slidably mounted upon the piston and the outer one of thesleeves being slidably mounted upon the innermost sleeve, a foot membercarried upon the outer end of the outermost sleeve and having an innerwall curved outwardly away from the adjacent end of the piston and theinnermost sleeve to form a fluid pressure chamber, packing glandscarried by the sleeves at the inner ends thereof and upon their innersides, one of the glands engaging the wall of the piston and the othergland engaging the outer wall of the innermost sleeve, means forlimiting the outward movement of the sleeves on the piston and withrespect one to the other, a fluid conduit formed through said head andhaving a lateral branch leading through the piston to said pressurechamber, a valve means in said lateral branch and normally positioned topermit the flow of fluid therethrough to the chamber, and means foreffecting the automatic closing of the valve means upon the movement ofthe foot member to a predetermined extent outwardly from the headmember.

7. A mining machine ram unit of the character stated in claim 6, inwhich said valve means includes a valve seat encircling said branch ofthe conduit, a plug valve element movable axially of said conduitbranch, spring means normally maintaining the valve element raised fromthe seat, and a flexible coupling between the valve element and the footmember, said exible coupling being of a length to be drawn taut and toeffect the movement of the valve member onto its seat when the footmember has moved outwardly to the said predetermined position from thehead member.

8. In a mining machine of the character stated, a fluid operated jackunit comprising a head member, a piston body integral with the headmember, a pressure foot supported upon the piston body for movementraxially thereof relative to that end of the piston body remote from thehead, a fluid conducting passage formed in the head and axially throughthe piston body, the said passage discharging from the end of the pistonbody toward the pressure foot for effecting axial movement of thepressure foot relative to the piston body upon the discharge of fluidunder pressure therefrom, a normally open valve within the passage. andmeans for eieeting the closing of the in rclaim 8. with elastic memberscoupling the valve to shut off the flow of fluid through the pressurefoot with the head member amdl com passage. toward the pressure foot,when the presstantly urging movement of the pressure foot axsure foothas moved a predetermined distance ax.. ally of the piston body inopposition to the action ially of the piston body away from th'eadjacent 5 of the pressure uid. end of such body.

9. A pressure jack unit of the character stated ROBERT JOHNSON.

